Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 629 A Wicked Woman Has Her Own Tribulations

Pei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "It seems I must find a way to see His Majesty in the palace before the news of the printing of paper money spreads out."

Lu Yin looked at Pei Yuan, "Can you stop him from printing money?"

Pei Yuan said, "It's hard to say about others, but he should be able to."

Having excellent vision and lofty aspirations sometimes means having to compromise yourself.

Pei Yuan asked himself, if even he could give up many immediate benefits to manage the paper money, he didn't believe he couldn't persuade Zhu Houzhao.

Seeing Pei Yuan's words, Lu Yin did his best to help.

"I heard that Zhang Rui, the director of the Eastern Depot, bought a large amount of paper money at a place where two strings of cash could be exchanged for one coin, and that he got the money from the Marquis of Shouning's bank."

"Oh?" Pei Yuan became interested.

He then recalled what Lu Yin had just said, "You just said that it was Zhang Rui's idea to have the emperor search for the old banknote plates?"

Lu Yin nodded.

Pei Yuan found this interesting. "He also bought a large amount of paper money at a place where two strings of cash could be exchanged for one coin?"

Lu Yin smiled upon hearing this and replied with great insight, "He probably thinks he's a smart person. That's how smart people are; they blindly believe that everything is under their control."

Pei Yuan found the words a bit harsh, but seeing Lu Yin's simple and sincere expression, it seemed that they weren't directed at him.

Pei Yuan muttered to himself, "Zhang Rui is the Empress Dowager's man."

Upon thinking of Empress Zhang, Pei Yuan immediately pictured her still-charming appearance.

If there were a ranking of wicked women in this world, this woman with her hair piled high and her eyes cold and piercing would undoubtedly be ranked at the very top.

Fortunately, every wicked woman has her own wicked rivals to punish her.

Pei Yuan also had his own trump cards to deal with this wicked woman.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and said to Lu Yin, "Why don't we wait and see? The West Depot and the East Depot have been getting along quite well lately. I heard that Commander Song and Zhang Rui are also getting along quite well. I plan to do Commander Song this favor."

The house where Song Chunniang got married was the one she asked Zhang Rui to help her find out.

Zhang Rui not only helped, but also personally attended the event that day.

Pei Yuan didn't expect to completely win Zhang Rui over; he just wanted to create an atmosphere where Zhang Rui felt that neither outcome was too bad and that he didn't need to work too hard.

Lu Yin had no objection to this, since he already had enough money to spend.

Pei Yuan then confirmed with Lu Yin, "Are you sure the person sent by the Censorate to investigate Zhang Feng's matter was Xiao Chong?"

Lu Yin laughed and said, "You should ask Li Shishi directly about that."

Pei Yuan shook his head. "After all, we are still separated from Ning Fan by a barrier. How can we let him know everything?"

Li Shishi and Prince Ning are related by marriage through their children, making them an unbreakable alliance for Pei Yuan.

If the relationship between the two sides hadn't been so tightly bound, Li Shishi wouldn't have been forced to become the Prince of Ning's figurehead when the Prince of Ning hastily rebelled.

That was the ship he truly couldn't disembark from.

Lu Yin understood this as well, and said, "The cabinet would definitely prefer Bian Xian to go, since it has already been agreed that Bian Xian would be the governor of Shandong."

“But Bian Xian is impeaching Yang Tinghe because of the imperial examination fraud case. The cabinet can’t bring it up, otherwise people will think that Yang Tinghe is guilty and deliberately got rid of Bian Xian.”

Yang Yiqing also took the opportunity to pretend to be confused.

"Therefore, Li Shishi not only recommended Xiao Chong, but also gave him benefits, which allowed Xiao Chong to advance to the position of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief."

"This is a condition that even Yang Tinghe couldn't refuse, so the matter was settled."

Pei Yuan nodded, having a general idea of ​​what was going on.

After seeing Lu Yin off, Pei Yuan saw that it was not yet curfew, so he took a few of his men and went to Xiao Ying's residence.

When Xiao Ying heard that Pei Yuan had arrived, he immediately came out to greet him with a smile.

He missed out on a lot of money when he was speculating on the Baochao (precious banknote).

Even so, his profits were already very substantial.

When Pei Yuan arrived at Xiao Ying's residence, he immediately dismissed all attendants and then asked him, "Do you still remember the double-crossing plan we proposed to Zhang Feng?"

Xiao Ying was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then overjoyed and said, "I thought you had forgotten about that matter."

Pei Yuan did not answer, but said, "I remember you mentioned before that you had collected some evidence against him."

Xiao Ying gradually became excited.

"Are we going to pull off another heist?"

Xiao Ying had tasted the sweetness of victory in this silver and banknote war, and was in the midst of a burning desire for more.

Seeing that the leader was about to start another group buy, I immediately got itchy and said, "I'm going to get it right now."

Pei Yuan sat in the reception room for a while before Xiao Ying returned, blowing dust off a stack of files as he walked.

Xiao Ying eagerly handed it to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan quickly flipped through the documents and found that some of them were from Zhang Feng's time as governor of Suzhou and Songjiang, while others were from after he went to Shandong.

Pei Yuan didn't look at them closely, and simply held all the files in his hands.

He then said to Xiao Ying, "I have a good suggestion, would you like to hear it?"

Xiao Ying nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at rice, "I want to hear it, I want to hear it."

Last time, I lost a lot of money because I didn't listen to Commander Pei.

No matter what Commander Pei says this time, Xiao Ying has to think it over.

Pei Yuan looked at Xiao Ying and said seriously, "I suggest you forget about this from now on, and pretend that nothing ever happened."

Xiao Ying was stunned upon hearing this. Could it be that Pei Yuan, that bastard, was trying to hog all the food?

However, Xiao Ying did indeed reap a lot of benefits by following Pei Yuan.

Leaving aside the hype surrounding the precious paper money, it was Pei Yuan's abilities that helped defeat the bandits back in Yanggu.

That time, the Xiao family not only received two earl titles, but also more than 60,000 taels of silver.

If Pei Yuan really wants to eat alone this time and doesn't take me along...

Well, it's alright.

Just as Xiao Ying finished mentally preparing himself, Pei Yuan raised the files in his hand and asked him, "These things don't implicate your Xiao family, do they?"

Holy crap! Xiao Ying keenly realized that Pei Yuan had just used a very dangerous word: "implicate".

Xiao Ying could no longer remain calm.

His first instinct was to ask Pei Yuan what exactly happened.

But then he remembered Pei Yuan's words earlier, telling him to forget about this matter from now on. Xiao Ying could only force himself to suppress his doubts and hurriedly snatched the file back with both hands. "Wait a minute, let me take another look."

Pei Yuan wasn't in a hurry. He sat there leisurely, drinking tea, waiting for Xiao Ying to carefully flip through the files again and again.

When Xiao Ying finally let out a long sigh of relief, he looked away from the files.

Pei Yuancai smiled and held out his hand to him, "Give it to me."

Xiao Ying sighed, hesitated for a long time, and then handed the things to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan asked again, "Is your 'Xiao' related to the 'Xiao' in Xiao Chong, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief?"

While Xiao Ying was flipping through the files, he was making wild guesses about whether Pei Yuan was about to show his fangs again.

Seeing that the matter had already involved such a person, he hurriedly said, "I am not worthy of your esteem, I am not worthy of your esteem." What kind of background could a eunuch's relatives have?
Even if he has now been fortunate enough to gain the emperor's favor, it is utterly insignificant compared to the noble lineage of the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Pei Yuan said calmly, "Then there's nothing to worry about."

After saying that, he took the file and left.

Xiao Ying dared not ask any more questions and watched Pei Yuan leave with the utmost respect, as if sending away a plague god.

Pei Yuan went outside and asked Lu Yong where Xiao Chong lived.

Lu Yong said, "The Vice Censor-in-Chief Xiao's family lives in Nanxunfang. If we go there now, we might be caught in curfew, and Xiao Chong might not be able to see us."

Pei Yuan smiled and said confidently, "It's alright."

It didn't matter, but Pei Yuan didn't expect that before he even got the cold shoulder from Xiao Chong's family, he would encounter a curfew check team.

Pei Yuan, confident in his status, ignored it and sent someone to inquire.

When he heard that it wasn't an imperial censor from the Five Cities Garrison, but rather someone from the patrol battalion, Commander Pei stood even taller.

Contrary to the peaceful and prosperous image later generations imagined, bandits were rampant in the capital all along.

This was especially true during the Chenghua era.

At that time, bandits roamed freely in the capital, occasionally joining forces to rob the homes of officials and commoners. They were even more unscrupulous when it came to ordinary merchants and commoners.

Later, the imperial court could no longer tolerate it, so in the twenty-first year of the Chenghua reign, it transferred some elite cavalry officers and soldiers from the military camps to assist the Five City Garrison and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in capturing thieves.

This is what is known as the patrol battalion.

At the beginning, the patrol battalion was extremely powerful, repeatedly achieving merits and making the thieves in the capital scream in terror, while also earning a very satisfying amount of bounty.

But later, the Jinyiwei and the Five Cities Garrison, who were portrayed as incompetent, unexpectedly learned some news.

These patrol battalions were not officially organized.

As a result, the hunched backs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Five Cities Garrison immediately straightened up.

Oh, an auxiliary police officer.

Moreover, the officials in charge of managing the patrol camp were of much lower rank than their counterparts in other city patrols.

Thus, the highly capable police battalion faced its biggest problem since its establishment: the temporary transfer of constables.

Aren't you in charge of night patrols?

So you're free during the day?

Some were seconded to various government offices to serve as errand boys, some were seconded to repair warehouses, some were seconded to walk dogs for people, and some were seconded to farm for people.

In a very short time, the police force was basically rendered useless.

Nowadays, the police force is basically just going through the motions.

Lu Yong simply didn't understand the key point. He had been hastily summoned from his hometown by his uncle and hadn't yet adapted to his new identity.

It just so happened that Pei Yuan was going out secretly this time, and everyone was dressed in casual clothes. With so many people walking together, it was easy for them to be spotted.

Lu Yong was already feeling guilty about breaking the curfew, and when he saw that they were being stopped and questioned, he hurriedly went to find Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan said to him with exasperation, "What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Go tell those guys who you are! Don't bother me with this kind of problem again."

Hearing this, Lu Yong's courage swelled slightly, and he quickly slunk off to see the battalion commander of the patrol camp, revealing his badge as the chief officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Upon seeing that they were from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the captain immediately lost some of his confidence and awkwardly stepped aside.

Seeing this, Lu Yong thought he had done a commendable job. After getting away from those people, he casually approached Pei Yuan again.

Pei Yuan indeed asked, "What did you say to them just now?"

Lu Yong quickly explained.

Even with Lu Yong's honesty, he still described his dignified and imposing demeanor.

Pei Yuan was speechless after hearing this.

He stared at Lu Yongdao, "Did I fucking tell you to show this?"

"If I needed the Embroidered Uniform Guard's bronze badge, would I have asked you to clear the way for me? Go back and fucking think about it."

Lu Yong got a scolding and quickly left, looking embarrassed.

However, Xiao Tong, who was standing to the side, offered a slight suggestion, "Brother Lu, you should really think about who you are."

Lu Yong's reaction wasn't slow either; he soon tentatively asked Xiao Tong, "Isn't it a bit beneath you to bring up my uncle's matter?"

Xiao Tong, however, saw things clearly. "What's there to be ashamed of? As long as Commander Pei is happy, that's all that matters. Isn't that right, Earl of Zhenping?"

Lu Yong understood and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Lord Leping is right."

The two chuckled, increasingly realizing that this commander was actually not difficult to appease.

To the slight disappointment of the two, the rest of the journey went smoothly, without giving Pei Qianhu the opportunity to satisfy his emotional needs.

When they arrived at the residence of Xiao Chong, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, Lu Yongsheng, fearing that Xiao Tong would make a name for himself first, took the initiative to say to Xiao Tong, "Brother, watch me."

Xiao Tong didn't seem to mind and gestured for Lu Yong to step forward.

Lu Yong immediately stepped out from the crowd and rushed to the steps in front of Xiao Chong's gate.

It was already curfew, and although many lights were still on at Xiao Chong's house, the gates were already tightly shut.

Lu Yong pounded on Xiao Chong's door, shouting, "Open the door! Open the door! I am Lu Yin, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial!"

Pei Yuan was completely dumbfounded. He exclaimed, "What the hell are they doing?"

This is the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Imperial Court, a highly respected and influential figure. Even Lu Yin, who lacks power, has to treat him with utmost respect.

Xiao Tong felt a little guilty and quickly said, "This subordinate doesn't know either."

After saying that, he quickly went up and pulled Lu Yong back.

At this moment, the Xiao Chong residence was also disturbed. There was a slight commotion inside the gate, followed by someone loudly asking, "Who is knocking on the door outside?"

Pei Yuan quickly dismissed his two dim-witted underlings and stepped forward to answer, "Pei Yuan, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is here and wishes to request an audience with Xiao Chong, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief."

The person inside immediately replied, "The Vice Censor-in-Chief does not receive guests."

Pei Yuan frowned and asked, "Why don't you go and ask the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief what he thinks?"

The person inside replied bluntly, "The Deputy Censor-in-Chief does not see the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Pei Yuan cursed inwardly.

The identity of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is indeed disliked and hated by some among the upright civil officials.

Pei Yuan immediately raised his voice and asked, "Haven't you heard the recent rumors? I am an accomplice of Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe; we are on the same side. Does the Right Censor-in-Chief still refuse to see me?"

The person inside seemed a little surprised and asked hesitantly, "Where did this rumor come from?"

Pei Yuan said, “It’s not just a rumor. A few days ago, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief Bian Xian impeached Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe for cheating in the imperial examinations, and he also said that I was Yang Tinghe’s accomplice. You can go see the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and ask him to find out.”

The people inside seemed a bit uneasy, and hurried footsteps could be heard as they left.

A moment later, the courtyard gate opened, and the young man who had answered earlier came out surrounded by a group of servants.

He glanced outside, immediately focusing on Pei Yuan, and said to him, "My father invites you."

(End of this chapter)